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In this age of GPS (global positioning system) sophistication regarding the pinpointing of locations worldwide, it is difficult to contemplate the rudimentary nature of topographical engineering in the mid-19th century. To the detriment of Civil War-era armies, the mapmaking discipline was still in its infancy at that time.

Coastal Point • File Photo : The bandstand area and the parking lot on Garfield Parkway are filled with artists booths during a past Bethany Beach Boardwalk Arts Festival.Those who come to the 39th annual Bethany Beach Boardwalk Arts Festival will have a chance not only to purchase a piece or two of art, but also to participate in art and help support budding local artists. Oh, and there’s the beach backdrop, too. (It’s hard to beat the beauty of the beach in September — it’s quite a masterpiece unto itself.)

This year’s event will include more than 100 fine artists who will be featuring paintings, woodwork, metal, clay, baskets, jewelry, porcelain and more. The show will be held on Saturday, Sept. 9, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the boardwalk. The bandstand area is the epicenter of the event, but it spreads in both directions along the boardwalk and adjacent street ends.

The juried festival is popular with artists from the local area, as well as from around the country. This year, three local artists representing three different media will join the dozens of talented folk displaying their artistic wares on the boardwalk. They are: painter Arlene Bailor of Dagsboro, glass artist Lorelei Meanor of Lewes and photographer Darlene Freas of Dagsboro.

Coastal Point photos • Shaun M. Lambert: An Indian River player takes a shot after winning control of the ball.Last year's Indian River High School field hockey team advanced to their first DIAA tournament appearance in 10 years, then lost a thrilling 2-0 game to defending state-champion Cape Henlopen. This year the team is aiming even higher.

The Indians were expecting back seven starters from last year's team, and coach Jodi Stone is banking on that experience and white-hot momentum to take the team to greater heights this season.

Their first home game is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 12, at 4 p.m., against Woodbridge.

Coastal Point photos • Shaun M. Lambert: Matthew Allender gives a stiff arm and makes a cut during a run against Sussex Tech on Thursday, Aug. 31.The Indian River High School football team, under coach Phill Townsend is looking for a fresh start this season.

Last year's team finished a disappointing 2-8, after starting things off with high hopes for competing for a Henlopen South title. The team did continue to battle through the very end of the season, fighting hard against rival Sussex Central, before falling 54-21.

The Indians' first home game will be Friday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. against Polytech High School.

Coastal Point • Tyler Valliant: Scott Hitchens shows off his car before racing in the Big Block Modified class for the first time on Wednesday, Aug. 30.Sometimes kids watch what their parents do and then go off and do something completely different. And sometimes, like Scott Hitchens — who spent much of his childhood watching his dad, Greg Hitchens, race cars — they feel the pull to do those same things themselves.

At 24, Hitchens is at the top of his game in the Short Track Super Series class, in which he has been driving the No. 15 car — sponsored by his dad’s business, Millsboro-based Greg Hitchens Enterprises. He is poised to be the top points winner in the class when the season wraps up later in the fall.

“I’ve pretty much got that wrapped up,” he said without a trace of braggadocio.

Maybe that’s because Hitchens has already started a new challenge, where he’s no longer the top dog. On Wednesday, Aug. 30, he raced in the Big Block Modified class for the first time, driving the No. 65 car, sponsored by Blades HVAC, at the Georgetown Speedway.

Special to the Coastal Point • Bruce C. Walls: Stephen Adams (far right, holding trophy) celebrates his winnings.Stephen Adams, of Four Oaks, N.C., made another profitable trip to U.S.-13 Kartway in Delmar, Del., on Friday, Aug. 25. This time, he fattened his wallet with $2,200 in purse earnings during a special memorial race for Milton native Cody Hopkins, who died in a June 19 auto accident. Earlier this year, during the first of five ‘Battle at the Beach,” races this season Adams had pocketed $3,000.

Hopkins’ parents and other family members attended the race. Before the features started, his father, Bill, honored his son’s memory by driving Cody Hopkins’ #27 kart five times around the 1/8-mile dirt oval.

“It means a lot to me to have all these people here tonight,” Hopkins said, choking back tears. “We used to race every Friday and Saturday night. We started out in Big Block Modified. We got out of that and started racing karts with the kids. It means a lot to me to come back to this community and the racing aspect of it. My nephew races here, and it’s great — it’s just great to have all these folks here tonight.”

Whenever I teach a new student to play pickleball, I first ask then what sport they previously played, because it helps me explain pickleball to them in terms they already understand. I also sometimes ask about their profession, because an artist processes information differently than an engineer.

On Labor Day of 1985, former town councilman Moss Wagner created the Bethany Beach Jazz Funeral to commemorate the end of the summer season. This year, the annual mock-funeral will take place in downtown Bethany Beach on Sept. 4, Labor Day, and will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the north end of the boardwalk.

When author Libby Sternberg comes to Bethany Beach Books on Sunday, Sept. 3, she will be signing copies of her latest book, “Fall from Grace,” a tale of redemption about a modern-day man from a famous evangelical Christian family whose indiscretions bring him and his family unwelcome scrutiny.

After war erupted between the states in 1861, it lasted four long — and for tens of thousands of people — heartbreaking years. Given the extensive scholarship directed toward this conflict over the past century and a half, it can be said with assurance that every event that took place during the war years has received due attention, both officially and unofficially.

In an effort to support the grassroots organization Operation SEAs the Day, whose goal is to facilitate a beach week for wounded military service members and their families, local Realtor Allison Stine created the Cripple Creek Car Show.

Special to the Coastal Point • Christina Weaver : David and Karen Jayne sit at one of Karen Murray’s re-finished pieces of vintage furniture with pots of Debi’s Design Diary paint.Excitement is building at Jayne’s Reliable in Dagsboro.

In less than two weeks, Karen and David Jayne will be hosting a major DIY (do-it-yourself) event featuring YouTube sensation Debi Beard, known in the DIY world from Debi’s Design Diary.

Also present will be Josie Celio and Sally Griswold, the sisters who own Iron Orchid Designs, and Dionne Woods from Turquoise Iris. These names are celebrities amongst the many people who delight in painting, decorating and repurposing vintage and reclaimed furniture and architectural salvage.

Jayne’s Reliable has been selected from stores around the country that sell Debi’s Design Diary’s paint to hold its second DIY Traveling Show & Marketplace on Saturday, Sept. 16, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“We are thrilled,” said Karen Jayne. “I attended Debi’s first one at her shop in Solana Beach, Calif. It was an amazing experience, and I learned so much. It’s a huge honor for us, located in small-town Delaware, to have been chosen. We can’t wait for our customers and DIY enthusiasts in our region to come and join in.”

Coastal Point photos • Tyler Valliant: Participants in South Bethany’s Annual Adopt-A-Canal End Contest pose for a photo at one of the canal ends.South Bethany is rewarding green behavior. For seven years now, the Annual Adopt-A-Canal End Contest has encouraged residents and property owners to help beautify their little corners of town, for the benefit of all.

Canal ends can be pleasant spots to rest and enjoy the water (from the land), so the Community Enhancement Committee encourages people to create small gardens, which then compete in a summertime beauty contest. Although there were only three winners, many volunteers dedicated hundreds of hours of hard work to landscape 34 different canal ends throughout town.

Lord’s Landscaping joined the winners and town officials on Aug. 18 to present gift certificates to the winning three.

Coastal Point • File Photo: Dancers from all over the country gather to dance during last year’s Nanticoke Indian Powwow.Dancers and vendors will travel from all over the country to Millsboro for the Nanticoke Indian Tribe’s 40th Annual Powwow on Saturday, Sept. 9, and Sunday, Sept. 10.

The theme for this year’s powwow is “The sacred fire that continues to burn within us.”

“We are celebrating our elders before us, those walking now and the generations to come,” said Nanticoke Indian Association Secretary Kayleigh Vickers.

The powwow is a family reunion for the Nanticoke tribe.

“We get to practice, see people and do things, traditionally, emotionally and spiritually, that we don’t always get to do,” said Vickers.

Coastal Point • Submitted: The Evans West house, built around 1901, is the future home of the Coastal Towns Museum in Ocean View and will be featured on the Ocean View Historical Society’s inaugural tour of historic homes on Oct. 7.As the century turned toward 1900, Ocean View newlywed Mary West Evans was given a piece of land on the corner of West and Oakwood Avenues by her father, Captain George H. West, who lived across the field (now a town park) in the Tunnell-West House, which was built circa 1850.

Mary West Evans and her husband, James Evans, a surfman at the Fenwick Island Lifesaving Station, built the stately gothic house, featuring pointed windows, angular roofline and corbels on the porch. It will be among the historic homes in the area featured on the Ocean View Historical Society’s inaugural Coastal Towns Historic Homes Tour on Saturday, Oct. 7.

The State of Delaware’s historic preservationists have dubbed the home “The Downton Abbey of Ocean View” because of its classic Victorian style, masterful woodworking, etched glass window on the original front door and other marvelously preserved features.

Coastal Point • Submitted: Mark Marvel and Phoebe Walls play serene sounds in the new musical duo Flute &amp;amp; Lute.How about a little night music? Flute & Lute is a new musical duo adding ambiance to special events. Flute & Lute is available for restaurants, private parties and wedding ceremonies. The musicians are guitarist Mark Marvel and flutist Phoebe Walls.

The pair will be in the dining room at Doyle’s restaurant in Selbyville on Saturday, Sept. 2, from 5 to 8 p.m.

It’s all instrumental — no singing. Some songs are classical, including Bach and Pachelbel, and others are classics, such as “Beyond the Sea” and “Moon River.” The musicians sway from the Beatles to the gentle ballads of John Denver and Celine Dion.

Coastal Point • Submitted : Multiple gold-medal winner Georgia Billger recently managed the successful Cucumbers &amp;amp; Pickles event for First State Pickleball Club, to help novices advance their game.Like each of you, I have my pet peeves. Of course, it is appropriate that I rename them to “Pickle Peeves.”

It astounds me when people say they are not competitive, or don’t like competition. I don’t know where the word “competition” got such a bad rap. Was it with no-scoring baseball?

I am glad my mother did not try to protect me. It is from rejection and sport losses that I learned to train harder and learned to think more creatively in overcoming obstacles.

My major life lessons came from or were reinforced by competition in sports, where I learned how to self-evaluate and minimize or overcome my weaknesses, and I learned how to win and lose gracefully. Most of these skills I took forward with me into the military and then the business world.

I know that competition against top talent in a tournament venue helps me significantly raise my level of play. The win itself is secondary — simply a grade on my report card. In fact, it is so secondary that I can hardly remember the score afterwards. For me, it is the matching of skills, wits, focus and experience.

I once asked Wimbledon champion Arthur Ashe if he remembered playing me in a very long exhausting match in the Maryland State Championships when we were kids, and he quickly said, “No.” I suddenly felt shorter than my shadow, and it must have been apparent. Ashe, ever the gentleman, said, “But how many wins do you remember? I remember my losses.”

I think part of the problem stems from how you approach competition. I never feared playing some whirlwind hotshot. My losses did not devastate me. They were a rude awakening to where I needed to improve.

Indian River Inlet Bridge hosts eclipse viewing party

Coastal Point • Tyler Valliant: As crowds gathered around the nation to watch a solar eclipse on Monday, Aug. 21, the Indian River Inlet Bridge offered a picturesque backdrop.

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On Monday, Aug. 21, as the time drew closer to 2:46 p.m. — the “peak” eclipse time for the region — a steady stream of eclipse-watchers pulled in to the parking lots at the Indian River Inlet and began climbing the pedestrian path on the east side of the Indian River Inlet Bridge.

The Indian River School District has found some new eyes to look at the budget, and they’ve got some ideas. The Citizens Budget Oversight Committee convened on Aug. 21 for their first look at the IRSD’s proposed $151 million preliminary budget for the 2018 fiscal year.

State Sen. Gerald Hocker and Gov. John Carney on Aug. 16 invited a small group of local businesspeople to join them for lunch and a roundtable discussion on the state’s economy and their concerns about their individual businesses and beyond.